Trump Goes on Offensive Against Migrant Caravan

12:00
November 28, 2018

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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - November 28, 2018

As previously reported, the United States used tear gas against a caravan of migrants on the border with Mexico.

The neighboring state's Ministry also did not stand aside and submitted a diplomatic note of protest to the US government, which calls for a "full-scale investigation" of the use of non-lethal weapons used in Mexico on Sunday.

Tear gas was used after some of the immigrants attempted to enter the United States.

Earlier, President Trump said that the US will indefinitely block the border with Mexico, if necessary.

Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!

It should be noted that tear gas was also used under Obama. According to media reports, law enforcement officers of the US Customs and Border Service (CBP), including border guards, used tear gas against migrants at or near the border at least 80 times between 2012 and the beginning of the 2017 fiscal year.

Breitbart News confirmed the CBP began using tear gas (2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile – CS) in 2010, though the available usage data begins in FY2012.

The agency also reportedly began using pepper spray (Pava Capasaicin) at about the same time.

"CBP takes Sunday's employment of use-of-force very seriously. CBP reviews and evaluates all uses of force incidents to ensure compliance with policy," a CBP spokesman told Breitbart News in response to an inquiry. "Over 1,000 individuals who were part of the so-called caravan attempted to cross illegally into the U.S. by breaching sections of the fence and using vehicle lanes in and near the San Ysidro Port of Entry. This group ignored law enforcement agencies in Mexico and assaulted U.S. Federal Officers and Agents assigned to respond to the situation in San Diego."

"As a response to the assaults and to defuse this dangerous situation, trained CBP personnel employed less-lethal devices to stop the actions of assaultive individuals attempting to break into the U.S.," the spokesman continued. "CBP has been preparing for weeks for events like the one on Sunday. We have seen the use of violence by members of this so-called caravan who have attacked law enforcement personnel in Guatemala, Mexico and now the U.S. CBP will consider using all approved and available resources to protect travelers, caravan members, and our agents and officers."

The CBP use of force reports also shows CS tear gas being used 126 times since 2012. Officials utilized pepper spray a total of 540 times during that same period.

The current CBP Use of Force Policy handbook (dated May 2014) requires all officers and agents to be trained in the use of all weapons utilized in operations, including less than lethal devices, such as these types of sprays. It also requires the officers and agents to be exposed to the sprays as part of the course of instruction.

During a telephone conference call with news media on Monday, CBP Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said, "The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers in San Diego effectively managed an extremely dangerous situation involving over 1,000 individuals who sought to enter the U.S. unlawfully in large groups. They did so safely and without any reported serious injuries on either side of the border."

"As we've articulated for several weeks, we have been concerned about the size of the caravan, its primarily single-adult composition, and the aggressive and assaultive behavior at both the Honduras-Guatemala border and the Guatemala-Mexico border," the commissioner continued. "U.S. government officials have noted the presence of criminals in the group, and the Government of Mexico has arrested over 1,000 caravan members for criminal violations in Mexico."

"In the course of these events, individuals engaged in active assaults, throwing dozens of projectiles at CBP law enforcement personnel," McAleenan explained. "Our Border Patrol agents were able to counter this activity, address the attempted group entry, and resolve the assaults with presence and less-lethal device deployments. Elements of the group then staged west of the port of entry and sought to press into the United States in the area of the Tijuana River channel. This group again became assaultive, with rocks and other projectiles thrown at our agents. Again, four agents were struck by projectiles in these assaults."

Despite media reports to the contrary, CBP officers and agents operating under the Trump administration responded the same way they did during the Obama administration when, in 2013, migrants rushed the same stretch of the border.

Democrat congressional leaders and Hollywood activists teamed up to condemn the Trump administration's use of force in defending the border but ignored President Obama's prior, identical response.

Pop star Rihanna accused the Trump administration of “terrorism” for spraying tear gas at the border. Others called for the president’s impeachment over the clash.

Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said the migrant caravan members are like the Jews fleeing the Holocaust, while Vermont Senator and possible 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called President Trump's use of force “authoritarian.”

It should be noted that under Obama such obvious indignation was not visible, but under Trump, who had repeatedly stated that he did not intend to tolerate migrants in his country, the situation turns to the other side.

What would happen if Trump had not used force? A huge caravan of thousands of people would be in the United States and more than half of the population would accuse Trump of softness and the inability to conduct either foreign or domestic policy and to protect the United States from diseases and pests.

As for tear gas, there are no conventions or other instruments in the world prohibiting the use of the substance, especially when it comes to the protection of state borders.